Manager Technology - AI Platform Services

Southwest Airlines • Dallas, TX

2d • $145,600 - $161,800 • Onsite

About The Position

As a Manager of Technology on the AI Platform Services Team, you will lead the team responsible for building and scaling the AI foundation powering Southwest's Customer and Employee experiences. You will guide Engineers and technical teams in developing reusable AI capabilities, including orchestration, integrations, governance, observability, and agent frameworks, to support intelligent solutions across shopping, booking, digital servicing, Customer CARE, and future channels. In partnership with Business and Technology leaders, you will help scale AI from isolated experiments into enterprise-wide capabilities that deliver measurable value. Through people-focused leadership, technical strategy, and cross-functional collaboration, you will accelerate innovation, improve operational efficiency, strengthen governance, and enable seamless, personalized, and connected Customer experiences while maintaining ownership of critical data, decisioning, and technology platforms.

This position is based at Southwest's Dallas, Texas Headquarters and requires working there during business hours. The role may require travel to Company and non-Company facilities or remote locations, as necessary, and extended hours as needed. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or currently authorized to work in the United States; sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a similar field, or equivalent advanced-level experience.
• Demonstrated experience directly or indirectly leading teams.
• Broad, fully functioning knowledge of a Business and/or Information Technology environment.
• Broad, fully functioning knowledge of leading teams and providing work direction.
• Knowledge of business and leadership principles, including planning, organizing, directing, developing, and supervising.
• Knowledge of personnel practices and regulations.
• Knowledge of software development practices, concepts, methodologies, tools, and trends.
• Proficient knowledge of project management methodologies.
• Excellent partnering, negotiation, and communication skills to facilitate interactions with business Customers and technology teams.
• Ability to provide tactical leadership for teams.
• Ability to use motivation and influence techniques to achieve desired team results.
• Ability to set and manage stakeholder expectations.
• Ability to deliver quality projects on time and within budget.
• Ability to manage projects using the organization's project management methodology.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or authorized to work in the United States; work authorization sponsorship is unavailable.
• Must be at least 18 years of age and comply with Company attendance and appearance standards.
• Must meet confidentiality expectations for confidential, proprietary, and sensitive Company information.
• Must be able to travel or attend Company and non-Company facilities and remote locations as necessary.
• Ability to work extended hours as needed.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building and delivering production-grade, cloud-native, AI-enabled solutions.
• Experience taking agentic AI, generative AI, or advanced automation from concept through scalable enterprise implementation and operational support.
• Experience with modern software architecture and platform engineering, including APIs, microservices, cloud-native development, integration patterns, DevOps, and scalable application design.
• Experience with AI engineering practices, including agent orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation, prompt and instruction design, evaluation frameworks, monitoring, governance, and AI platform capabilities.
• Experience partnering across product, architecture, security, data, infrastructure, and business to deliver enterprise-ready AI and software capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Guide and lead team members using Southwest talent management practices to coach, develop, and engage employees.
• Adhere to Company values and competencies to foster inclusion, recognition, and a safe work environment.
• Participate in continuous learning and development to invest in leadership and self-growth.
• Lead, support, and influence achievement of department and organizational missions, goals, and objectives.
• Participate in organizational processes and initiatives, including performance management, interviewing, budgeting, and training.
• Lead resolution of organizational, team, and individual issues and make appropriate decisions.
• Develop and execute strategies and processes to improve performance and the value of products and services.
• Lead cross-functional teams to deliver solutions and services that meet enterprise needs.
• Provide technical thought leadership in assigned functional areas.
• Deliver technology solutions using best practices to maximize team productivity while producing high-quality products.
• Stay current with emerging trends, processes, and solutions related to assigned responsibilities.
• Build collaborative relationships and credibility while influencing and driving change across Business and Technology teams.
• Work with Technology and business partners to measure financial benefits and demonstrable business value.
• Perform other job duties as directed by the Employee's Leaders.

Benefits

• Free travel on any open seat on Southwest flights for employees and eligible dependents.
• Company dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match contribution of up to 9.3% of eligible earnings, subject to the plan's vesting schedule; contributions may vary by position.
• Potential annual profit-sharing contribution to the Southwest Retirement Savings Plan, subject to vesting and Company discretion.
• Competitive health insurance for employees and eligible dependents, with coverage options starting on the first day of employment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager